CIA Deputy Director David S. Cohen said Wednesday that information the Central Intelligence Agency provided to Austrian authorities helped prevent an ISIS attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna that reportedly killed thousands.
"The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them with information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do," Cohen said at the annual Intelligence Summit in the U.S. capital on Wednesday.
The "The Eras Tour" concerts in Vienna, which were set to host some 170,000 people and were sold out from Aug. 8 to 10, were canceled after the arrest of two suspected terrorists who were planning an attack during the show. Several more people were later arrested.
"They were planning to kill a large number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I'm sure many Americans," Cohen said, without giving further details.
Cohen said the CIA had provided information about four people linked to the Islamic State who were planning an attack.
Some of the people arrested were found to have bomb-making materials and had access to the concert venue.
The American singer did not comment on what happened until last week, when she posted a message on social media: "Let me be very clear: I am not going to talk about something publicly if I think that doing so could provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my concerts," she said.
The star also said that after the cancellation of her three concerts in Vienna she felt fear and "tremendous guilt" for the number of people who had planned to go see her at the Ernst Happel stadium in the Austrian capital.
Swift said she was grateful to the authorities in that country "because thanks to them we were mourning for concerts and not for lives" and said that despite the situation she was encouraged by "the love and unity" she saw in her fans.
"The Austrians were able to make those arrests because the agency and our partners in the intelligence community provided them with information about what this ISIS-connected group was planning to do," Cohen said at the annual Intelligence Summit in the U.S. capital on Wednesday.
The "The Eras Tour" concerts in Vienna, which were set to host some 170,000 people and were sold out from Aug. 8 to 10, were canceled after the arrest of two suspected terrorists who were planning an attack during the show. Several more people were later arrested.
"They were planning to kill a large number, tens of thousands of people at this concert, I'm sure many Americans," Cohen said, without giving further details.
Cohen said the CIA had provided information about four people linked to the Islamic State who were planning an attack.
Some of the people arrested were found to have bomb-making materials and had access to the concert venue.
The American singer did not comment on what happened until last week, when she posted a message on social media: "Let me be very clear: I am not going to talk about something publicly if I think that doing so could provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my concerts," she said.
The star also said that after the cancellation of her three concerts in Vienna she felt fear and "tremendous guilt" for the number of people who had planned to go see her at the Ernst Happel stadium in the Austrian capital.
Swift said she was grateful to the authorities in that country "because thanks to them we were mourning for concerts and not for lives" and said that despite the situation she was encouraged by "the love and unity" she saw in her fans.